The Journal of Seizu Moltann
by Ace Ryonik
Summary: Excerpts from the journal of an integral player in the 50-Year-War. Rated PG-13 for violence and language.
1. The Fort Yardow Disaster

Author's notes: Seizu Moltann is a character from my web comic, Dark Arts: Final Fantasy Tactics. You can check it out at www.geocities.com/aceryonik  
  
Final Fantasy Tactics doesn't belong to me, but to Squaresoft and its affiliates.  
  
April 14th, 473 A.A.  
  
  
  
I've finally been assigned to a unit in the Hokuten. So far, the war has been going on for 24 years. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if both sides' kings die of old age at this rate. I remember when this was pushed as a speedy resolution for the control of the crown...  
  
I suppose that I've been training for battle for about five months up until now. Being a black mage, survival training was much different from what I had previously endured. After having my psyche broken down and rebuilt completely numerous times to train myself, it was pure hell to go through it again with my body. I guess I'm just not built for that sort of thing. Well, I made it, anyway. At least now I know that the layers of Hell I went through with Master Gerhart weren't there for no reason.  
  
I didn't see too much action, today. My squadron, along with two others comprised mostly of archers and knights, was ordered to stand guard at Fort Yardow. A band of thieves must have gotten lost or something, because quite a few wound up where we were stationed. I stayed back, but a few of the soldiers that had been guarding the area for much longer than I got bored and led an attack on them.   
  
As it turned out, there was a bounty out for the group of thieves that they killed, so everyone on guard duty received a reward for their cooperation. I'm not too sure how I feel about it, but my pay's not coming until next week, so...  
  
April 15th - April 26th, 473 A.A.  
  
Aside from the occasional suspicious character, my time on guard duty was very uneventful. Times like these give me a chance to get to know my comrades-in-arms, so I don't complain too often. The newer cadets, like myself, sometimes point out how boring the pause in action is. The more experienced ones frown upon such reasoning, saying that the battles themselves aren't at all glamorous, and that haste will only lead to death.  
  
Myself, I try not to take any sides in the frequent arguments. However, sometimes I hope for some action, as well. After all, I didn't join the Hokuten knights so I could stand outside of a building all day.  
  
April 29th, 473 A.A.  
  
Those among us that wished for some action... well... our wish came true. Disaster is the only way that I can describe what happened. To put it simply, Yardow, the Fort City, is no longer under control of King Denamunda.  
  
It was the most well thought-out, and at the same time, most barbaric battle plan that I had ever seen in my life. Over the past few weeks, King Denamunda had been hiring migrant workers to maintain the city while its residents were at war. However, we discovered some interesting evidence in one of the worker's homes, yesterday: Romandan flags.  
  
By the time any of us were able to do anything, the town was in flames. Conjured spirits flew through the air, laying waste to the fortress and all around it. The false migrants proceeded to kill all the remaining residents in town: the women, children, and enfeebled. A great deal of our men were killed, as well.  
  
By the time the dust finally settled, the once-proud fortress stood n ruins, with corpses strewn about. I overheard a conversation between two survivors.  
  
"Who were those people?"  
  
"The Death Corps., obviously."  
  
"Death Corps.? Is that what they're called?"  
  
"Of course not. Those sons of bitches don't deserve a title... But what else would you call a group of heartless bastards like them?"  
  
He was telling the truth. There was barely any part of the road not covered with blood, bone, or flesh. Even after the fires had burnt themselves out, there were still plenty of leftovers to remind us of what happened. Right now, I think that I feel the same as everyone else, and the way I feel is: if I EVER meet another member of this "Death Corps.", I will ignite him with a flame so powerful that the traces can NEVER be found. 


	2. The Serpent's Conquest of Riovanes

May 4th, 473 A.A.  
  
I was relocated to a different squadron, now that there's no more Yardow to guard. The squad I was transferred to was part of the campaign to capture Riovanes from Romanda. Most of the other survivors of the attack on Yardow were put on the squadrons that are on a campaign to regain control of the fortress, I hear.  
  
Riovanes is close to Igros, the base of the Hokuten, so most of the army was put into play. We not only have the full backing of the Beoulve family, but I hear that there's another important soldier with us. There isn't a single soldier in the military of either force that hasn't heard of him: Major Elidibs Risatto.  
  
I haven"t met him personally (and I doubt I will), but I have heard a lot about him. His exploits in this war are already legendary. Apparently, during his duty as an escort for Count Cidolfas Orlandu, a group of soldiers attacked and killed all of the escorts but him. Somehow, he and Count Orlandu fought the entire squadron off, alone. The thing is, both returned to Gariland without any injuries.  
  
From that day, Count Orlandu was called the Thundergod Cid, and Elidibs gained the rank of Major, and was granted complete freedom within both the Hokuten and Nanten. The rank of Major may not seem like much, but Elidibs said that it was the highest rank that he wished to receive. He argued, why should good, skilled fighters in an army get moved to a position that would keep them from the battlefield? That doesn't keep the brass from treating him like a General, however, so he's free to do as he wishes on either army that fights on the side of King Denamunda. This battle must have interested him in some way to get him to fight on our side, while the Nanten was trying to take out Ordalian capitals.  
  
Right now, we're in the planning stages, and awaiting reinforcements. I can't wait to get my hands on the Romandans...  
  
May 8th, 473 A.A.  
  
Late tonight, the reinforcing squadrons finally arrived from Igros. Something that most of the army wasn't expecting, however, that the reinforcements would be mostly female.  
  
I'm not exactly sure what my feelings are about that. Master Gerhart taught me about equality in all living beings, but these are the times we live in. The thing I'm worried most about is the hormonal factor between the soldiers. There's already too much innuendo for me to stand in this army, and now I may have to put up with the others talking about things that actually happened. I REALLY need to set some fires in Romandan territory, now.  
  
As for that, the planning for the attack was finished yesterday. We're going to make a move on Riovanes tomorrow morning. General Balbanes Beoulve is becoming concerned about our being spotted. Actually, we haven't had to hide from any search parties for a few days now, which means that they must already know about us, and they called back the scouts to take part in smoking us out. General Beoulve knows this, for certain. Tomorrow is certainly going to be interesting. My first actual battle- and it's one of this scale! Part of me is looking forward to it, but I mostly just want to get away. I wonder if it's the same for other fledglings? Who knows? Maybe even the great Major felt this way on that escort mission...  
  
May 9th, 473 A.A.  
  
Today, I experienced my first battle.  
  
As the squadrons marched onto the battlefield, I could feel my heart beating in unison with the pounding footsteps of myself and my peers. Was it excitement? Or was it fear? My squadron was one of those positioned to attack Riovanes from the East. Balbanes foresaw that the Romandans would have a countermeasure ready for us, so he decided that we should move on the fortress from all sides at different intervals, while the squadrons steadily grew larger on each assault. I knew that I probably wouldn't see any of my comrades sent into the first attack- but I still wish that I could have gone with them.  
  
My squad was third in order- not quite decoys, like the first two, but still not the main force. Both the General and Major were in the fourth legion, so we lacked the type of celebrities that would provide strong troop morale. Still, I think that we had plenty of morale, with many thinking that our attack could not fail. I was never really sure of anything.  
  
Once clearing the horizon and bringing Riovanes Castle into our view, I could see the carnage below. There were already two of our squads facing the resistance, and that meant that the ground was already littered with the fallen. I could instantly see that once the soldiers actually got down into the valley, there was no more need for General Balbanes' strategies. Each man and woman there was covered in both the blood of themselves and others- some of it belonging to allies, some to enemies, and some to the chocobos that the higher-ranked soldiers were riding. Both sides had no shortage of wizards and summoners. Skies ripped open, spewing thunder through the clouds of sulfur. Six-pointed summoning stars, hexagrams, opened in the earth beneath them, giving birth to anything from hell-spawned titans, to black dragons, to women made of ice.  
  
It was damned frightening.  
  
I saw the captain of my squadron raise his javelin from his mount on a chocobo. I heard the footsteps pick up pace, and as I looked down, my feet kept pace with the others beside me. I kept thinking, Stop! Turn back! That way can only lead to death! If not yours, than those of your friends, and even should YOU cause blood to flow, it will be unacceptable! This is not what Master Gerhart taught you, Seizu!  
  
My protests only helped to slow me down a little, but I picked up speed again with the slightest nudge from behind. I got my rod from behind my back and thought, So, this is it? The roar of the Hokuten's white lion urges me on to this! If St. Ajora is watching, may He forgive me...  
  
I might have thought in the back of my mind, And should I die, may He accept me into the heavens! If so, then it was the last conscious thought that I had.  
  
Some moments that stick out in my mind: after our squad lost a considerable amount of soldiers due to bombs placed by chemists, I lost it and gave up almost my last bit of energy to conjure a Firaga spell and wipe out every last archer on the East Tower. Later, a Romandan knight noticed what I had done and rushed at me. Luckily I had also captured the attention of one of our archers, causing her to watch over me. When she saw the knight, she fired an arrow that managed to knock of his helmet. I immediately endowed myself with artificial strength and rushed through the brush fire to grab him by the throat, crushing it. I made note to memorize the archer's face so I could thank her later.  
  
"The sun's almost set! Where in the hell are they!?" A soldier yelled out. He was right- though I had not realized it, we had been fighting for hours, and the fourth squad hadn't shown up to help, yet. In the heat of the moment, I broke formation and ran for the northern end of the castle. Through the smoke and fire, no one was able to see me. Not that I cared- like I said, I gave up thinking. I could already smell heavy sulfur in the area, but as I neared the are where Balbanes' legion was supposed to attack, I could also smell literally tons of gunpowder, as well. Through the smoke, I could faintly see a ruined earth and the corpses of over 60% of the legion. The others were either too injured or shaken up to fight. There must have been some terrible explosion to have done something like that. In hindsight, I suppose that setting a trap in the front of the castle would be elementary when preparing for an attack.  
  
I called over some troops that had finished fighting off members of our resistance. Anyone that could be spared rushed over and helped to thin out the enemy soldiers around our injured. I couldn't see either of the brass, which was both good and bad. It meant that they weren't injured, but it also meant that they could have been captured. I was only a cadet, but I practically ordered a large group of soldiers to look for them. Even if they outranked me, their concern for Balbanes and Elidibs took over and they began their search. After all, our morale was pretty much dependent on them. If they weren't there, we probably wouldn't be, either. We would have never even made the attack.  
  
After a little while, a bright flash came from the walkways connecting the two towers facing north. A few archers' bodies fell from said walkway, and I looked up to see a figure wearing a red hat and cloak over a black military uniform. He had long, black hair, and a short beard. It was Major Elidibs. I couldn't believe that he made it up there alone. The siege ladders hadn't even been used, yet, which meant that he had to go through the castle itself.  
  
I grabbed a siege ladder from the ground and made my way up there. Elidibs already took care of the soldiers up there, so I just had to keep my balance. After making it up there, I signaled for a few more to follow, then I chased after Elidibs. I finally caught up to him in a second floor hallway. I called out to him, and he turned around to face me. He held out his palm and yelled, "Get down!" I didn't understand it, btu it was still an order from a superior officer. I immediately pressed my stomach flat to the ground, and a blast of ice fired by Elidibs grazed my back. I heard yelling from several people behind me. I got on my feet and noticed that there was a large group of Romandan soldiers just a few feet away from me.  
  
"Um... thanks." I said, my back heavy with a partially frozen cloak. I dropped it to the ground and stood at attention to Elidibs.  
  
Almost immediately, he said "At ease," which I was glad for, since my body hurt too much to stand straight. He asked, "Where is your squadron?"  
  
I replied, "Sir! Several of our soldiers have already entered the castle. However, many are injured, outside the walls. Others are searching for General Beoulve."  
  
"There's no need," he replied. "The General is also in the castle, but he may be deeper than this, since he brought some more soldiers with him. All of mine were separated from me. Come on, we have a job to do."  
  
I couldn't believe that I was fighting alongside of the great Elidibs- master of the Lost Arts of the Serpent! Every time we met resistance, he cut them down with spells not even mentioned in the books of black magic I studied under Master Gerhart. I first thought about how amazing his skills were. He did everything with a certain grace, even killing. Then, I hoped that he didn't consider my being with him comparable with baby sitting. I had only stood back, and watched with awe. I really wished he didn't think he was babying me. Lastly, I noticed that he never stopped, even if we came to a dead end. He would just turn back without ever slowing down. His face was extremely hard and focused. He cared nothing for our mission, or anything else, for that matter. He was razor sharp.  
  
It was damned frightening.  
  
This went on for hours before we met up with friendly soldiers whom were at ease. They gave us the word that Riovanes Castle is now officially property of King Denamunda.  
  
My entire body aches. I'm extremely fatigued, and I'm not very clean in terms of my conscience. How many did I kill today? I smell of sweat and blood. I probably will be in this state for a while. I won't get the chance to bathe until we reach Igros, and it's a long march back there. Our forces were cut down to about half of what we normally had. Those with friends that passed away are in mourning. I didn't get too friendly with any of them. People are going to die. I can't let it affect me.  
  
I'm going to turn in for tonight. Here's to hoping that tomorrow's a better day... 


End file.
